Hi Everyone! Happy Friday! Today I'm showing the very first franken I ever made. It's a black glitter with holo hexes I named Midnight's Master after one of my fave books by Cynthia Eden. The Midnight Series by her is fabulous and I had to do it justice. The thing is I made this franken FOREVER ago like over a year ago and never wore it! I paired it with my Crystal Ball duped which the lovely Sarah over at Chalkboard Nails renamed to Crystall BALLZ for me lol!
I do have to say I think I did a pretty great job with my first ever franken!
And I want to try to get a couple days of wear out of this SO let's see what I do with this mani tomorrow to extend some life!
I have to work on Saturday and possibly Sunday so I need to find some ways to wear something more than once that won't drive me nuts LOL!
I hope everyone has a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Everyone!! ooooh I've been super busy and from what I'm told at work it's not going to get any better! Thankfully it's only going to last about a month. I'm trying to think of mani's I can wear that might last a few days OR something quick and easy.
I've really been into mattes lately. I don't know what it is either because when they whole matte look first came out I thought--ug, how ugly. Now all of a sudden I am loving mattes! I prefer my suedes over any matte because of their shimmer, BUT our challenge in AIS a couple weeks ago was something matte and my friend Malinka did a matte over a duo chrome and I loved it!
I got a lovely bottle of Catrice Genius In A Bottle from my wonderful friend Biance AGES ago so I decided to matte it and see what would happen
Gloriousness that's what happened!!!!
This is a shot in the shade-- I tried to capture the duochrome but it was rather difficult
This is a shot of it in the light and OMG so lovely!
Yes I am in love with duochromes matted! The pigment in duochrome polishes is full of shimmer and it's just so gorgeous matted.
Of course I couldn't stop there!
I stamped over it with my DRK-A plate!
I really love how this looks. These last two shots are in the shade.
But here it is in the light
Wow I just love how this looks!!!
I'm definitely going to try these colors together again with a different image too
How do you feel about matte?? Are you loving it, hating it--not really thinking about it one way or another?
Thanks for stopping by!! I hope you all have a fantastic day!!!
Hi Everyone! Back in the day I was a frankening queen. In fact some of my friends even referred to me that way. I have made dupes for China Glaze Crystal Ball and Grape Crush, I've duped Butter London's Knackered, Black Knight and Tart With A Heart, and I've done dupes of OPI Glamour and Exclusive. I used to franken a lot but haven't in awhile. I have a ton of polishes I made using spectra flair too but again just haven't made any in awhile.
Yesterday we had a super sunny day in Wisconsin! It was cold, but sunny. I decided to wear my Glamour and Exclusive dupes and gradiented them together. They are very lovely.
Usually I name my frankens on my favorite books. I did not do this with these two polishes INSTEAD I named them something from my favorite books. Back before the world started reading 50 Shades of Grey, which in my opinion is pretty awful, there was a little series called Masters of the Shadowlands by Cerise Sinclair. The books are FAB-U-LOUS! I decided to name my two DS dupes something sassy. My Glamour dupe is Safe Word and my Exclusive dupe is Safe, Sane & Consensual.
My nail polish friends now the type of books I like to read AND they know all about these dupes and the names I've given them. My new neighbor, however, did not!
As I was taking pics of this mani in my parking lot he came out and asked what I was doing. I explained to him I was taking pics of my nails in the sunlight. I told him I was a blogger and he told me he too is a blogger! He blogs about fish and fish tanks! So here we were two kindred blogging souls. he looked at my nails and said they looked "cool" and asked what brand they were. I explained to him I made them myself and he was really shocked. Then, not really thinking, I told him the names.
Always be careful of what you wear on your fingertips LOL! He gave me a strange look, probably because I don't really look like your BDSM book reading type of person lol!
In any case here they are Safe Word and Safe, Sane & Consensual--two of my best dupes I think!
I thought about stamping over them when I got home last night but really didn't want to ruin the gradient or over shadow the lovely holo. So I tried to put some nice butterflies on them only now you need to do magic eye to find them!
I probably should have just left them alone but you know me!
Have any of you ever said something and gotten strange looks from people you don't really know? No one at worked asked their names so I was pretty safe there lol!
Thanks for stopping by!!! I hope you all have a fantastic day!
Hi Everyone! I've been toying with the idea for this water marble for awhile now. One of the gals at work was wearing a dress with black, gold, teal and coral and I thought wow these colors really look great together. I wanted to water marble a design like it. I just don't love this water marble! It had SO much potential but really fell flat for me
I just don't know what it is, maybe my teal is too dark, maybe my coral too bold.
Maybe stripes would have been better? I'm not sure I just don't love it lol!
I used China Glaze Passion, OPI Ski Teal We Drop, Sally Hansen, Snappy Sorbet, and a black.
I haven't marbled in a while so this was so disappointing to me. I will say I love my ring ringer best, I just wish the coral was darker lol.
I think that's a lot of my problem in life--what my mind sees is actually so much better than what I wind up with. Especially guys! LOL!
Thanks for stopping by!!! I hope you all have a fantastic day!
Hi Everyone! Oh my lord I have had a day! I got up super early to work on my AIS challenge mani for today and here it is 2pm and I'm finally getting it blogged! Today's challenge theme is stamping over a blue base and I really wanted to use some untrieds. I hauled out China Glaze Secret Periwinkle and the Essence Blue Magnetic I have and discovered two things. While they look like they'll match up in the bottles once on the nail they did not AND seche vite ruined the magnetic! It completely erased the lines the magnet made.
I was so hacked off!
I decided to start again and use China Glaze Sea Spray with it. I also changed around my magnet lines and FINALLY I have something I like!
I did a half moon mani for this magnetic and I like it. The Blue Essence is gorgeous!
I even stamped with it for my accent nail! Magnetic polishes stamp great!
I used a few plates for the snowflakes. The accent nail is BM323, index is
RA-119, swear and pinkie is BM14, and the thumb is SH17
I really love the snowflakes on the thumb and index and wish there were plates with those snowflakes only smaller--if you know of one let me know!
All in all I'm really happy with how this turned out EVEN if it took forever!
Now I just have to hope we don't see snow in Wisconsin anytime soon!
Thanks for stopping by!!! I hope you all are having a great weekend!
Hi Everyone! Happy weekend! I cannot stress enough how much I am in love with these new Pure Ice Velvets which I refer to as suedes. They are AWESOME! The dry instantly and and so vibrant in color. 2 of my dear friends were able to get me all the ones I wanted and I just love them! I didn't get home until after 10pm on Thanksgiving and I had to work yesterday so I didn't have time for a mani UNTIL yesterday morning just before work. I was able to put together a gorgeous mani in 20 minutes YES 20 minutes before heading out to work yesterday!!!
I got a zillion compliments on this yesterday and I loved it so much I'm wearing it again today! I'm thinking of putting a shiny topcoat on it to see the shimmer come alive. If I do I'll make sure to post pics!
This is just a sponged on french tip of first black over Pure Ice Touch Me Softly and then Pure Ice Black Velour sponged over the black to give it a black matte look. I stamped using BM01 and voila! Gorgeous and quick!
After a grueling day at work I came home to find 4 more of these gorgeous treasures sitting in my mailbox! I can't wait to try them all out! I hope you're not sick of looking at mattes LOL!
My big plans for the weekend are spending time with my family at a comedy show on Saturday night, hopefully getting my hair cut and the house clean on Sunday and then Packer Football Sunday night! What's everyone else up to?
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!
Hi Everyone! Today in the states it's Thanksgiving. This is a holiday where we get together with family and friends and celebrate all we are thankful for. We eat A TON of food and share fellowship with those we love. This will be a hard day for me having to celebrate this day without my dad for the first time in my life and of course I'm always thinking of those I love who are no longer with me on this holiday, my Grandma Welch and my beautiful sister Lisa.
But even though this is a day that will have tears, this will also be a day with joy and laughter and love. I'm thankful for the family and friends I have. I'm thankful for the wonderful animals I have that enrich my life. I'm thankful to have a roof over my head and a job to go to. Sometimes we take those things for granted.
Today I did a little turkey mani because I had seen lots of my friends doing one. I don't know though, no matter how hard I tried I just don't think this guy is too "cute" lol! I used OPI Holiday Glow for my nails which I am kicking myself for not using earlier as I've had it a year and I used Orly's Buried Alive for my turkey and unfortunately it's one of those colors that doesn't play nice with others. My white eyeballs turned yellow in a matter of minutes!
Oh well--gobble gobble everyone!!!
No matter where you are I hope today is a day you are thankful for the family and friends you have and the life you live.
Blessings to all of you my wonderful followers!!!!
Hi Everyone!!! Yesterday at work I noticed one of the girls outfits. She's pregnant and had on a cute turquoise maternity top with a leopard print shrug. I walked right up and told her how cute she looked and I think it made her SO happy because usually by the end of your pregnancy you are not feeling cute at all. When I got home I decided to recreate her outfit as a mani. I've done something like this before copying the fab Kayla Shevonne but in a half moon mani look. This time I went for the Ruffian and really love it. In fact I love it so much it might just be my Thanksgiving mani! But we'll see lol!
I started out with China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise and then topped it with Color Club Love Em, Leave Em--which is a nice subtle nude holo.
I'm not one for nudes but I love Love Em, Leave Em!!
I stamped using Sally Hansen Coco A Gogo and BM221. I love plate BM221, it's a fab animal print plate for sure!
I'm not sure if Allison will be impressed by this mani or not when I show it to her today at work but I surely will thank her for the inspiration for it!
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you all have a fantastic day!!
Hi Everyone!!! Ooooh it's getting closer to turkey day!! I have a lot of mixed feelings about Thanksgiving this year. I'm actually having a really tough time right now dealing with and thinking about the death of my father. He was the biggest male influence in my life, and being a woman disappointed in the relationships I've had, he became the only man I really ever trusted, believed in and loved. Sad but true. I am a VERY bad picker when it comes to men. In fact I'm waiting for them to discover the "bad picker" gene and then name it after me.
For years I stood beside my dad while he carved the turkey and then I moved the carved meat onto the platter. I stole pieces of skin and we both tested the turkey for poison. I also remember my beautiful sister, Lisa, during Thanksgiving and how she just could not walk away from the carcass! We would be cleaning the kitchen and putting away the leftovers and she would still be picking off the bones but complaining about how full she was lol!
So while this is a time of great sadness for me, I have not forgotten what Thanksgiving is all about--being thankful for those you do have in your life and all of what you do have. I have a wonderful family, I have a wonderful group of friends in both the chinchilla world and the nail polish world. I have two really cute cats--well one is a pain in the butt BUT he's still cute. I have a roof over my head and food to eat. I am SO thankful for all of these.
I will think of my father and my sister this week and I will cry, and I will remember the years past, but I only cry because of how much I miss them, and I only miss them because of how much I love them--to me that's not so bad.
BUT onto the nails!!! Last night I pulled out my Sphere by Pretty & Polished and decided to pair it with a franken I made ages ago! I put some spectraflair into a bottle of Hard Candy Beetle and it had a really cool result. Sometimes holo sometimes purple glass flecky.
I named it Shadowdance. It's pretty cool, it just looks more holo in the bottle.
Sphere is one of the first polishes I bought from Pretty & Polished, it's a truly gorgeous blued!!! I don't know if Chelsea is still selling it, if not then I consider myself super lucky to have it!
This is also my first time using this design--so a couple of untrieds here--untried franken I made and untried plate design!!
The image is BM 201
I think this turned out pretty cool!!
Thanks for stopping by!! I hope you all have a fantastic day!!
Hi Everyone! Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend. I got to spend some time with my cousins on Saturday and on Sunday I made a kick butt sweet and spicy chili and some of my famous cornbread! Okay my cornbread isn't that famous but it should be because it's darn good lol!! I've been looking at my stash lately rather disgusted with myself that I have so many untrieds! Here I am wanting more and more polish and I haven't even worn 3/4 of the stuff I do have! Therefore I've decided to get those untrieds out and start using them!
I was quite enamored of the Nabi magnetics awhile back and got quite a few of them. I haven't worn them though! So today I yanked one out--I thought it was black but turns out this is a deep green.
I decided to try my hand at stamping over it with Kleancolor Jazz Olive and my DRK-A plate--I'm loving this DRK-A design lol!
Kind of funky!
I wonder if this would have turned out more dramatic with a flat metallic for the stamping? I might try this again and see how it looks.
Thanks for stopping by!!! Have a great day!
Hi Everyone!!! Today's challenge in the Adventures In Stamping group is something matte. Recently I've gotten a few of the new Pure Ice velvets which I also refer to as suedes AND I love them! They are super delicious and apply like a dream and look like a dream AND for under $2! Today I decided to gradient Ruffled Sheet (the silver) and Black Velour (yes you guessed it, the black)
Here's how the look together
Pretty yummy!!! I was really happy with this gradient and let me tell you it's not easy to gradient with mattes!
I had a hard time thinking about what to stamp over this--red, black, silver? I actually tried Zoya Posh and it was a no go. I settled for white using my DRK-A plate
Looks pretty good from a distance but you can see how unforgiving matte is! I had to restamp a section of the white on my ring finger and it didn't line up well AND my pink smeared!
All in all this is a pretty cool mani I think.
What do you think????
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you all have a fantastic day!
Hi Everyone!! Happy Friday! Today I'm wearing one of the new Pure Ice Velvet's called Blue Midnight. This is all I can really say about it - - - -
OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I simply could not staring at this mani and I didn't even do any nail art on it!
It's a gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous, and did I mention GORGEOUS shimmering suede! I added an accent nail of Icing's Let Me See Your Peacock simply because it's an untried and I vowed to wear more of my untrieds
I threw a matte topcoat over Let Me See Your Peacock and called it a day!
SHAZAM! I love these new Pure Ice Velvets! LOVE THEM!!!!!!! And for 2 bucks you can't go wrong!!!
I'm really glad I had such great friends be able to find and get these for me!!!
I've had a couple on and I feel what they say is true once you can matte you never go back LOLOLOLOL!
Thanks for stopping by!!! I hope you all have a great day!
Hi Everyone! I hauled out some of these matte's I have because A I love them and B I need to start using all this stash I have amassed. I mean seriously I have so much polish I haven't even used once for crying out loud. And it's getting rather ridiculous!
I've had Zoya Savita for ages and didn't even use it until the other day! I decided to yank it again and use it along with Veruschka and my new Pure Ice Blue Midnight. Check out what I came up with!
Wow! I really, really, REALLY love how this turned out! I wanted it to look like a peacock that's why I went with the gold in the half moon.
I stamped over it using BM212 but I wasn't madly in love with it
Not sure if it was the shiny top coat on it I didn't like
Or maybe it just covered up too much of the gorgeous gradient
I decided to matte it to see if I would like it better
Better but really it looked the best without stamping over it I think
What do you think--do you like without the stamping? Do you prefer the matte over the shiny look?
Thanks for stopping by!! I hope you have a fantastic day!
